Improve Your Business Dealings with Improvisation

Written by Terrill Fischer


"Nothing is accidental ... use everything." -- Keith Johnstone

Evenrepparttar best-laid plans,repparttar 104508 proverb goes, go oft astray. And by learning how to improvise like actors or jazz musicians, corporate types can better adapt torepparttar 104509 always changing situations that you face.

What is improvisation? Trying to explain improvisation is like to trying to describe to someone how to ride a bike. The actual experience of riding a bike is much different thanrepparttar 104510 description. Improvisation comprisesrepparttar 104511 crucial mental skills needed for individuals, teams and organizations to thrive in change, innovate and think effectively under pressure.

Although many people are familiar with improv throughrepparttar 104512 television show "Whose Line Is It, Anyway?", few know this interactive art form has been highly valued for its ability to empower performers to respond immediately and inventively to each other and their environment. It originated in Europe inrepparttar 104513 mid-1500s.

Improvisational structures are governed by rules that require participants to accept and cooperate with each other, listen interactively, and jointly advancerepparttar 104514 action of a given task while continually supporting each other to be successful.

Improvisation fosters successful collaboration. To succeed, participants must attend to their partners' communication and accept and build upon each other's actions while remaining as flexible as possible. As a result, everyone is empowered to interactively discover his or her inherent creative potential.

When I first was exposed to an improvisational workshop many years ago, I sawrepparttar 104515 tools that we learned to use -- such as taking risks, accepting each others ideas, exploring them and moving them forward -- were exactlyrepparttar 104516 tools that people inrepparttar 104517 business world would have to develop to foster ideas under pressure. If people in organizations are unable to think under pressure, build ideas, challenge assumptions and think creatively, their survival will be hampered.

Most people aren't thinking about how they can improvise at work, however. But what they do want to know is: "How do I get my people to share ideas with each other?" Most ofrepparttar 104518 trouble with sharing our ideas derives from our fear that we'll be judged for our ideas and our fear of looking foolish.

To break down barriers and generate ideas, try this fun improvisational exercise, called Ad Room.

Everyone who participates in Ad Room is part of an ad agency. Your goal is to come up with an ad campaign for a fictional product -- gasoline that you can drink, for example -- that would includerepparttar 104519 customer benefits, slogans, spokesman and jingles.

Have everyone agree not to block new ideas and instead accept and explore ideas together, no matter how bizarre or strangerepparttar 104520 initial idea sounds. Pay attention torepparttar 104521 reticent ones inrepparttar 104522 group and encourage them to share. If this is next to impossible inrepparttar 104523 group session, encourage quick one-on-one sharing.

Lifetime Value Online?

Written by David Bell


In "Big Time Banner Advertising," we discussrepparttar importance of establishing an acceptable level of return for your promotional investments. This number becomesrepparttar 104507 criteria for what is deemed a success and what is deemed a failure. How you determine this number is not only critical torepparttar 104508 success of your advertising efforts, it's also critical torepparttar 104509 ongoing success of your business in general. Many dot-coms makerepparttar 104510 mistake of using a "lifetime value of a customer" calculation to determine their success criteria. They estimate how many purchases a customer may make from them over a long period of time. Then they calculate how much profit will be contained in all of these purchases. They will then use this "lifetime value" figure to determine how much they are willing to spend to acquire this customer. This is how some of these dot-coms can rationalize spending nearly $100 in promotional dollars for every unique customer buying $20 worth of books or CDs. Do lifetime value calculations even make sense in an environment where "switching" is so easy? Inrepparttar 104511 online business environment, it's very easy for your customers to simply click away to a better deal or a more appealing offer. Online, there are fewer opportunities for true customer lock-in. Sure, our customers have a certain level of familiarity with us that helps gain their loyalty. And, we may also offer our customers rewards or incentives to encourage their loyalty. But when compared to an offline lock-in such asrepparttar 104512 location of your nearest grocery store, these types of online lock-in are clearly far more fragile.

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